Albury City junior Isaac Hovar is the talk of the AWFA community this week after being selected for the Australian Joeys under 15s.
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Hovar was picked during the final selection camp at the AIS last week.
He will now play for Australia in the AFF under-15s Youth Championship at Chomburi, Thailand, as part of a 23-player squad departing on July 2.
Hovar will play against host nation Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and Singapore from July 9-22.
Whilst the national selection process is an ongoing one subject to performance, Thailand is a lead up tournament to the 2018 AFC U-16 championship qualifiers.
In the event that Isaac retains his spot, these qualifiers would commence in September in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The goal of qualification is to attain a spot for Australia at the FIFA under-17 World Cup in 2019.
Around these exciting new developments, Isaac continues to travel to Sydney weekly to train and play with the Marconi under-15s NPL side.
“He has been playing well and gained time playing up in the under 16 and under 18 teams, as well as benching for the under 20 side on one occasion,” his father, Peter, said.
“We understand Isaac is the only regionally-based player to have made the final squad and we have been very fortunate and grateful to have the support of Rex Regional Express who are assisting with Isaac’s weekly travel to and from Sydney.”
Hovar, 14, has been part of several elite football squads and programs since the age of eight, including AWFA representative teams, NSW Country and the NSW Country team at the FFA Australian Youth National Championships.
“We are grateful to Albury City and AWFA for the ongoing support provided to Isaac on his football journey,” Peter said. “We believe this support and the solid foundations provided through local SSF and junior football have been fundamental towards helping Isaac attain the opportunities that have now opened up for him.”
Albury City president Cam Burns said Hovar has been incredibly loyal to the club.
“He’s Albury City through and through, he came through the MiniRoos program and has always played in his age group and higher each week,” Burns said.
“We have Murray United across the river, but his parents have taken Isaac through the AWFA pathway, which meant training and Wagga and Griffith and playing games all over the place.
“It was through that process that Marconi found him, so it proves that clubs are out there looking at the regional areas.
“Marconi is obviously his primary club and we’re now the additional club, but we’ll always call him ours.”